Breakdown of Les retouches que j'ai fait faire à la couturière sont chères.
je
I
être
to be
avoir
to have
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
faire
to do, to make
cher
expensive
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
que
that (introducing a clause)
la retouche
the alteration
la couturière
the seamstress
Questions & Answers about Les retouches que j'ai fait faire à la couturière sont chères.
Why is it fait and not faites? The direct object que (referring to les retouches) comes before the verb, so shouldn't it agree?
Normally, yes! The past participle in the passé composé with avoir agrees with a preceding direct object. However, this is the exact exception your current lesson is teaching. When faire is used in the causative construction (followed directly by an infinitive), its past participle (fait) is always invariable. It never changes, no matter where the object is.
Why are there two forms of faire right next to each other (fait faire)?
This is the causative construction, which translates to "to have [someone] do [something]". It is formed with the conjugated verb faire plus an infinitive. Because the action you had the seamstress do also happens to be faire (to do/make the alterations), you end up with the past participle fait followed by the infinitive faire.
Why is it à la couturière? Couldn't we just say j'ai fait faire la couturière?
No, because of how objects work in the causative construction. If the infinitive verb has a direct object (in this case, que representing the alterations), the person performing the action (the seamstress) must be introduced as an indirect object to avoid having two direct objects. We do this by adding à in front of the person.
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